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Overcast in Fairbanks

In the morning, we got on the bus again to go to the airport. Seems like we’re always on some kind of bus, or doing some sort of tour, with very little unstructured time. I brought pages of Sudoku with me, and haven’t touched one, yet. I also brought along the book Allegiant, electronically checked out from the library. Haven’t read a word on the trip.

From Dawson to Fairbanks is a 2-day drive, or a 1-hour flight. We took a 737 out of the small Dawson Airport.Security was just a tent outside the airplane.

The flight was not terribly scenic, as there was almost continuous cloud cover all the way to Fairbanks. Not surprisingly, it was drizzly all day in town.For the first time on the trip, I felt the need to put on my jacket. Locals told us that although it’s rarely windy there, in the winter it can get down to -50 F. The city is supposed to have a population of about 30,000 – or 80,000 if you consider the surrounding areas. I didn’t see many people around town, and wondered how the stores stay in business.

To save a little money, we went to the local Co-op grocery store for food. It was like a Whole Foods, not cheap. A loaf of bread was $8. Still it was less expensive than eating out. We got some cold cuts and chips, too.

This seems to be popular in the area.Back at the hotel, we all had lunch in Jackie and Steve’s room.

After lunch, instead of napping, we went shopping, and also spent a lot of time at the Visitor’s center.

This display was on the monitor at the visitor’s center.This is where we’re going tomorrow. Doesn’t look so bad – like spring in San Jose.For dinner, we went to a place called The Crepery. We got there just at closing, but the owner kept the place open for us. Good food, and inexpensive by trip standards. Crepes were between $8-10, and one was enough for dinner.